Admitting your mistakes makes you human
August 4th, 2008
And people love to know that companies are human. Or at least made up of humans.
Our own Identity Ignition Specialist, Amanda Long, received the following last week:
Nobody’s perfect. And when you pretend to be, not only do people resent you for it and go to extreme measures to point out that you are, in fact, flawed, but also, you look ignorant.
Apologies are powerful. And sometimes they will make those that already love you love you even more, not to mention help some others who weren’t sure about you get off that fence and join the fans.
So don’t be afraid to apologize.
Other posts by Spike.
Virginia Miracle says:
Spike- We have quite a few JCrew fans in our office who found this email remarkable enough to discuss it around the offline water cooler. The errors jcrew.com had been having for weeks were eggregious and extremely inconvenient and I didn’t know they were aware of them. The fact that they were a) aware and b) cared bought them many more chances in my book.
Our only question - should there have been a discount or some sort of accomodation associated with the apology?
August 4th, 2008 at 7:30 amSpike says:
Hmmm… a good question. On one hand, sure, a discount would be nice. On the other I think it sets up an expectation, which I’m sure sure is a great thing. Sometimes just admitting your mistakes is enough.
August 4th, 2008 at 7:36 amWhit says:
I think it would be smart to give discounted shipping or at least upgrade the shipping. We live in a society of the give it to me NOW mentality!
I like to think of myself as fairly patient but the mrs. bought something off JCrew in early July and only found out after a phone call that the order hadn’t gone through. It should NEVER get to the point where the customer needs to call to find out why its taking 3+ weeks for something to ship. No matter who you are or what you sell.
I understand that they probably didn’t have the information needed to give people the heads up that they lost their order - thats where the “well how ’bout we upgrade your shipping” option would be worth while. I’ll give it to them though, the email was a good touch and does say a lot about them thinking about their customer - just might need to be more in the minds of some of the customers.
August 4th, 2008 at 8:07 amJackie Huba says:
Spike, I just blogged this as well. An apology that is generating word of mouth…nice!
I don’t think they need to do a general discount for everyone to make up for the issue. I read on other blogs that they are giving discounts or making it up somehow per individual situations that have arisen. I think this is the best strategy. I wasn’t affected so why do I need a discount?
August 4th, 2008 at 8:27 amMegan says:
Actually, they did offer free shipping during the site snafu. I found this sort of moot though, considering I couldn’t actually add anything to my cart. Nonetheless, in an age where personal accountability seems to be on the decline, I appreciated their apology and will continue to empty my pocketbook in their general direction.
August 5th, 2008 at 8:26 amChris Rackley says:
Yeah - this is a good point; but it leaves me with a follow up question: What happens when you’re constantly apologizing?
There are some companies that know the power of an apology, but they’re whipping them out left and right, whether it be an official “We’re sorry” or a personal email or card saying as much. Is there a point when the apology, and the company as a whole, lose credibility?
August 11th, 2008 at 6:04 amSpike says:
Great question, Chris. I think that if it becomes a consistent thing (apologizing, that is), then the company in question needs to take a good, hard look at its quality assurance and processes. Maybe even put the brakes on everything else until that part is fixed.
Screw up big time once with me, I’ll forgive you. Twice, maybe. Three times…that’s it.
August 11th, 2008 at 6:33 amCheryl says:
You’re so right and with apologies come respoect. Churches, companies, organizations are all imperfect but with mistakes come growth too with the right outlook. It’s nice to know there are companies out there willing to be humble.
August 31st, 2008 at 8:54 am